Fridge freezer recommendations – Liebherr still recommended?

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  • #101157
    RufusMcDufus
    Participant

    I have an old Bosch freestanding f/f (KSV2422 off the top of my head) dating from the late 90s. It’s starting to get a bit tatty, a bit of rust here and there, door hinge on bottom door broken so I recently switched hinges right to left. The only other snag is it’s a little small for our needs.

    With electricity prices as they are I was initially looking at efficiency. I’m quite surprised how few seem to attain C-rating or higher. Sust-it (https://www.sust-it.net/energy-saving/fridge-freezers) is a great resource for checking out efficiencies. The most efficient seem to be Samsung or Bosch. I’ve read – particularly on US forums for some reason, not so much in the UK – absolutely horror stories with Samsung (and LG) though, enough to put me off. I’m slightly sceptical that some manufacturers may be “gaming” the energy ratings system more than others.

    We have a Miele washing machine which, touch wood, is also of a similar reliability and age to our fridge-freezer, so I’m quite attracted to Miele, though their fridge-freezers tend to be D-rated or lower. I read here that Liebherr make Miele fridge-freezers. Is this still the case? I’m slightly suspicious at some of the low prices on cheaper Liebherr and wondering if they’re much poorer than their more expensive models? ao.com usefully lists the country of origin of many f/f’s and checking a random cheaper Liebherr I can see it’s made in Bulgaria. German-made seems to be a rarity for any of them nowadays – would this really make a difference anyway? I’m looking for something pretty basic, maybe 70/30 or 60/40 split, possibly frost-free as a feature, and maybe some versatility on shelves, but that’s about it. And white ideally – which seems a bit of a rarity these days! I strongly doubt we’d get 25 years out of a new fridge-freezer like the old one. but would be quite nice to not have to buy again in my lifetime.

    #483598
    electrofix
    Moderator

    Liebherr make the fridges for Miele

    as for country of manufacture, Germany is no different that a lot of western countries with very high labour cost meaning the cost of manufacturing in germany would make the appliance to costly. you will find all the research and development will still probably be there with the manufacturing overseen by german engineering staff

    [USER=”125″]don[/USER]

    don has more knowledge of the new appliances

    Dave

    #483599
    don
    Moderator

    The “budget” Liebherr machines are still better than the likes of Bosch etc. I like the Plus and Prime ranges as they have features and benefits I personally like.

    Energy labelling on most catergories was reviewed and came into force as of April last year so what was a A became a C or D depending on how many + symbols were after it. By regrading it will hopefully encourage manufacturers to strive to get higher in the longer term towards the coveted A bracket.

    Don

    #483600
    RufusMcDufus
    Participant

    Many thanks for the really helpful replies. With the current energy crisis I’m half-expecting manufacturers are going to be focusing on energy efficiency more (Miele at the IFA show in Germany hinted at this for instance, though they all probably say the same thing every year!).
    One thing I have no idea on is product cycles and whether the one I’m buying will suddenly be discontinued. Is there a time of year when new models are generally announced? Of course newer may not be better…

    #483601
    don
    Moderator

    New models are usually released in the spring, in recent years the differences have been very small. It may be a change of colour somewhere or a different shape of bin or shelf. Others may switch factory for a model due to production cost, the list goes on!!

    Manufacturers do have a legal responsibility to maintain spares for it’s useful life so you have no concern there. If you get to over ten years though spares could become more difficult to obtain as it would be deemed to old.

    Like I always say to customers ” whatever you buy today will be more than likely replaced with a new variant in a year.”

    Don

    #483602
    RufusMcDufus
    Participant

    Cheers! Incidentally do you know the difference between Liebherr’s Pure, Plus and Prime (oh, there’s Peak as well) ranges? Obvious difference is price but wondering why?

    #483603
    don
    Moderator


    A little insider info 😉

    #483604
    RufusMcDufus
    Participant

    That is fantastic – thank you so much. Looks like I don’t need more than a Plus!

    #483605
    RufusMcDufus
    Participant

    Sorry, one more question. Do you think from a quality/reliability perspective that it’s worth paying more for Plus or Prime instead of Pure? Would the guts of a Pure, compressor etc., or design of cooling system, be likely to be of lower quality?

    #483606
    don
    Moderator

    I would go with Plus as it has the bio fresh cooling. Most other things are just cosmetic or aesthetics.

    Don

    #483607
    fred bloggs
    Participant

    I would add, the bio fresh compartments really do work. I found it very surprising, but they do work as described.

    #483608
    Tester200
    Participant

    Hello mr. Don, sorry to open up this thread like this, but I’m also in the process of buying a fridge-freezer combination, and for the better part of this year, I’ve been looking at Liebherr fridges due to reading a lot of information on many fridge brands, but I’m always somehow coming back to Liebherr :D.

    So far, I’ve been looking at 2 models for Black Friday:
    – CNsfd 5703
    – CNd 5703

    Both of them are Pure line, and I would like to know your opinion about them. Also since they don’t have, f.e. wine rack, is it possible to buy it separately from Liebherr to import it into the fridge, and also other stuff, like butter holder, and so on?

    If they’re not that good and worth the price (650-750€ is currently priced), do you have any recommendation for 60cm width and 200cm+ height within price range of around 800-900€?

    P.S. I’ve also read that people sometimes in Europe have mixed feelings about them and I couldn’t find some exact technical or product issue that they were experiencing, that other people had too.

    Many thanks.

    #483609
    don
    Moderator

    Hi to you in Europe, your IP address links you to possibly Croatia 🙂

    All home electrical appliances in the UK are produced especially for us as we have tighter regulations although sometimes I do wonder.

    I have compared both of your models on tis link https://www.liebherr.com/en-gb/fridges-freezers/product-comparison-3011643 and they are identical in function, the CNfsd5703 is in silver. As for the wine rack you would need to ask Liebherr Croatia email is servis@gemma.hr or phone +385 161 955 82 and ask if you can retro fit one. Liebherr are still the best refrigeration appliances you can buy there is nothing better.

    Let us know how it goes

    Don

    #483610
    Tester200
    Participant

    Thank you very much for replying back mr. Don 🙂

    Well from what I can gather in physical stores and online, most declarations for Liebherr fridges in this part of EU have labels “Made in EU”, which is not something I like to see, but then again, hope that they’re made some place reliable. I’ll contact Gemma to ask them if it’s possible to order additional parts for any kind of Liebherr fridge-freezers. Do you know if “Made in EU” would potentially mean they are made in Bulgaria, where their factory is?

    #483611
    don
    Moderator

    At one time you could by the barcode number from a small directory you could access on line. then manufacturers got a little sneaky and had the barcode logged to their own head office addresses. So… made in EU means just that, it could be that the appliance is manufactured in Bulgaria or parts are shipped there and then assembled.

    Either way it’s still a good product.

    Mr. Don:D

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